With production being highly variable on a night-to-night basis, daily fantasy baseball plays a bit differently than other sports.
As a result of this, the primary method of selecting hitters is to "stack" certain teams in good spots to produce. Most of the top stacks on a given day come with hefty salaries. In addition to that, a vast majority of pitchers with the upside to win tournaments are high-salaried hurlers.
Therefore, crushing your value plays -- whether it be a pitcher unexpectedly piling up strikeouts or a low-salaried batter racking up points -- can be the secret sauce to taking down a tournament.
Which budget options stand out today on FanDuel?
Wilmer Flores, 1B/2B/3B, Giants ($2,400)
This is a fantastic spot for Wilmer Flores.
The San Francisco Giants are taking on lefty Tommy Henry, and Flores has a long track record of success against southpaws. In the split for his career, he owns a .340 wOBA and 45.1% fly-ball rate.
Henry has struggled in his brief MLB stint, amassing a meager 15.5% strikeout rate across 36 innings. Righties have tagged him for 1.48 dingers per nine. He mustered just a 5.14 xFIP in a larger sample (113 innings) this year at Triple-A. He's not good.
We project Flores for 16.8 FanDuel points, and the multi-position eligibility makes him a valuable puzzle piece. He's the night's best point-per-dollar bat, per our model, and the second-best overall hitter. He's also just one of a few San Fran righties out projections love, with Evan Longoria ($2,300), J.D. Davis ($2,200) and Austin Slater ($2,200) also projecting super well.
Chris Taylor, OF, Dodgers ($2,200)
Any $2,200 starter on the Los Angeles Dodgers should interest us because this LA lineup can go off in any matchup. They're in a good spot today against Jose Quintana, boasting a 4.71 implied total, the third-best on the slate.
Quintana is a solid pitcher. However, he's struggled some over the second half, recording a 17.9% strikeout rate in that span. For the year, right-handers are striking out only 17.8% of the time against him.
Chris Taylor's numbers are down in 2022. He's projected to hit sixth, though, and mashed his way to a .380 wOBA with the platoon advantage just a season ago. He's a low-salary way to get exposure to one of the night's top offenses.
Randal Grichuk, OF, Rockies ($2,700)
Randal Grichuk is at home -- aka Coors Field -- against lefty Sean Manaea.
Versus lefties this season, Grichuk owns a gaudy .375 wOBA and 40.7% hard-hit rate. At home against lefties, his wOBA is an eye-popping .474. Yes, please.
Manaea has permitted five taters over his previous three starts. Righties have gotten to him for a .356 wOBA and 43.2% fly-ball rate.
The Colorado Rockies' 5.19 implied total is the night's second-best, and Grichuk is easy to love at this salary -- even though he'll likely be pretty chalky.